


a bit of calm

by sans_carte



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, Gen, Muslim Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:21:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22063231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sans_carte/pseuds/sans_carte
Summary: Yaz wants to pray.bit of a character study, since the new season's coming out...one-shot, could kinda take place anywhere after Arachnids in the UK.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 29





	a bit of calm

Yaz wants to pray. 

It’s been a while since she’s performed salah. At home she doesn’t attend mosque very regularly, to her parents’ slight dismay, and praying five times a day would be pretty much impossible with the demands of her job. But sometimes Yaz wishes for the calm of ritual prayer, the familiar motions and words, the quiet reminder of something larger than herself.

(The TARDIS and some of the places they’ve traveled so far have given her that same slightly awed feeling, that the universe is so much bigger than just one person or moment.)

Right now she could use a bit of that. Travelling with the Doctor is exhilarating, certainly, but...it’s a lot to absorb. And she’d like to pray for Grace, for Ryan and Graham now living without her, for some of the people they’ve met in their travels across space and time, and for her own family. Especially now that she knows the kinds of incredible alien dangers that might threaten them.

Thing is, Yaz doesn’t have a bloody clue which direction to face during prayer, nor which prayer she should even be doing. They’re currently somewhere in the Andromeda galaxy—she doesn’t know where the Milky Way is, much less Mecca. And time is a funny thing on the TARDIS. She considers asking the Doctor about it, but feels a little embarrassed by the idea. Do aliens pray? Would it seem like a silly human superstition to her, when they’re in a spaceship traveling through time and space?

Yaz is learning, though, that this is much more than a spaceship. The TARDIS seems to have its own sense for what its occupants need, whether it’s custard cremes or a first aid kit. They’d discovered the latter after Ryan had fallen and scraped his knees on the last planet, in a wall niche Yaz could’ve sworn hadn’t been in the main control room before. 

So she isn’t entirely surprised when, exploring the vast corridors of the TARDIS one morning (well, she just woke up anyways, call it morning), she comes across a beautifully decorated room with rugs on the floor, a fountain softly burbling into a low basin, and what’s unmistakably a mihrab set into one wall. There’s even a strange sort of clock above it that shows a rising and setting sun and with a little studying, she thinks she can figure out which prayer it’s time for.

Yaz slips her shoes off just inside the door. She makes wudu, covers herself with a beautiful deep blue cloth from a basket full of fabric and scarves in one corner of the room. There are glistening gold threads shot through the fabric, which appear and disappear like stars.

Then she prays.

***

When she finishes, a deep calm settled into her skin, Yaz looks up to see the Doctor in the doorway. 

“I didn’t want to interrupt,” the Doctor says softly. “But we’re here.”

“Thanks...Where is here, again?”

“Planet XP3109, New New Britain. Probably. Most likely,” the Doctor adds, wrinkling her nose a little.

“It seems a bit like the TARDIS pilots you more than the other way round,” Yaz teases. She folds up the cloth and tucks it away. 

“She has a mind of her own,” agrees the Doctor, smoothing a hand fondly along the doorway. “But she’s good at taking me where I need to go, even if I didn’t know I needed it exactly.”

“I think I get what you mean.” Yaz finishes putting her shoes back on and faces the Doctor. A prickle of excitement runs through her at the thought of a new, completely alien planet outside the doors of the TARDIS. “Shall we?” 

The Doctor grins, mirroring her excitement. “ _ Allons-y _ !”

She stops short. “Wait, do I say that? Is that me? That doesn’t sound right…”

“Come on, you.” Yaz rolls her eyes fondly and loops one arm inside the Doctor’s to pull her along. They have Ryan and Graham waiting for them, and a whole new planet to explore. 

***

(“By the way, can we make a stop in Sheffield soon?” Yaz asks as they approach the control room. “Only it’ll be the end of Ramadan soon, if I’ve got the days right, and I’d like to celebrate with my family. I’m sure you’d be welcome to join us for Eid,” she adds after a moment’s consideration. 

Mostly because it’d be hilarious seeing the Doctor pretend to be normal around her family again.

Predictably, the Doctor’s face lights up with a grin. “Of course! Eid at Yaz’s!”)

**Author's Note:**

> I don't speak or write Arabic myself, and don't consider myself Muslim, but I tried to write this in a respectful way. my apologies for any mistakes.


End file.
